Siwon whistled as he the engine of his Audi. He was in good mood. His boss really liked the presentation Siwon gave that morning. With the third quarter looming in just few short weeks, the boss wanted to ensure the board that they had solid plan to maintain their market share. And so he asked Siwon and his team to make few plans and this morning Siwon had successfully presented it to him and the rest of the board. That put him in good mood.

He decided to make his mood even better: see Changmin and play with him. His son was the best thing that ever happened to him after all. And so here he was, on a drive to his son’s school which he just visited one week ago. Thinking about that now reminded him of Cho-sensei.

Siwon frowned. That guy was…weird, not a good kind of weird, but not a bad kind either. According to Changmin, the teacher favored Junsu over him, but it didn’t seem like that. Siwon still remembered the words Cho-sensei said about Changmin.

“Changmin is a smart boy. Sometimes he’s naughty but that’s normal. He also catches things very quickly, and kind towards others in his own unique way. You have a wonderful son.”

These words were not the words that an uncaring teacher would’ve said. Obviously he was taking care of his students, more than what Siwon’s six year old son gave him credit for. But then again, Changmin was not a stupid kid.

Siwon smiled. His son was smart. And adorable. And cute. The selfish part of Siwon kind of wanted Changmin to be a kid forever, never grew up. That way, Siwon could’ve taken care of him forever and bought him all his robot toys –gundam– as much as he wanted. But of course he wouldn’t. One day his son would grow up and Siwon would be left alone.

Okay, that was a horrible thought.

Sighing, he turned left and saw Changmin’s school looming ahead. Oh well. He better appreciate whatever time he had left with his son now. Siwon couldn’t wait to see the boy’s smile when he saw his daddy. Most probably he would ask for an ice cream, that little manipulator.

 

“Choi-san!”

Siwon stopped in his tracks as he heard someone called him. Turning around, he saw Changmin’s teacher, Cho-sensei walked towards him. The teacher had few brightly colored books and stuffed toys in his arm. He bowed to greet him and Siwon did the same.

“Are you picking Changmin up?”

“Yes. I know it’s still early so I’ll just wait. I have a long lunch break today.”

Cho-sensei nodded, “The bell will ring in an hour. Do you want to see Changmin’s class?”

“I can do that?” Siwon was a bit surprised. He didn’t expect Cho-sensei to be so cordial with him. He had half-expected the teacher to ignore him (after all that was what Cho-sensei did when they met last week), or at least asked him to wait outside the school’s gate.

The other man laughed and Siwon thought the smile looked good on the teacher. “Of course you can. Many parents asked to see their children’s classroom so we make the windows big. Or so the principal told me anyway since I’m pretty new. Come on, the classroom is this way.”

They made their way through the playground where there were a sandbox and few swings. Buckets and small toy-spades cluttered around, and Siwon could imagine the children’s laughter as they played together. This school gave him that kind of impression. It was homey, welcoming, children-friendly-type of environment that could only be filled with laughter and happiness. Maybe that’s why this was one of the most expensive private schools in the city.

But it was all worth it. If it meant that his son was given the best education by the best teachers, the hefty school fee didn’t seem too expensive. Siwon himself knew how important it is to have good teachers that do not only teach, but also act as second parents. Changmin didn’t have a mother and although he never complained, Siwon knew sometimes his son wondered why he never had one. Sooner or later they had to have the talk.

“There he was,” Cho-sensei said as they arrived at one of the classrooms.

Siwon stepped closer to the glass window and felt his heart warming at the sight of his son. Changmin was busy reading a book at one corner. Other children were playing with each other, or with the lego blocks, making random shapes based on their creative imagination.

“Why isn’t he playing? Why is he reading by himself?”

Instead of replying Siwon’s question, Cho-sensei stepped closer. “Choi-san, how about a quick lunch? I need to talk to you about your son.”

 

Every possible scenario played in Siwon’s mind had gone from bad to worse to downright terrifying. Cho-sensei refused to tell them anything because this was not a good place to talk about this until they were both seated in a small café near school. He said that this place served good food and since Siwon was on a lunch break anyway so they should make good use of the time.

“Or maybe I’m just hungry,” Cho-sensei had chuckled.

The man appeared to be uncaring to Siwon’s obvious panic. They had leisurely walked from the school to the café, and insisted that they should order first rather than being interrupted later. He even chatted with the owner while Siwon could only guess what was wrong with his son.

He himself had not noticed if there was anything that might be out of place. Changmin was just being his usual self. He still played with his gundam a lot, still ate so many ice creams and sweet things that most children loved; he was still even refused eating broccoli last night. There wasn’t anything wrong with refusing to eat broccoli though. Siwon himself disliked green beans with passion so he couldn’t blame his son on that.

He was so engrossed in his thinking, that Siwon barely registered when the food came. He took mouthful after mouthful, but didn’t really think of what he was eating. Cho-sensei didn’t seem to mind however when Siwon didn’t even make an effort to talk.

His mind reeled wildly, trying to figure out what might went wrong. No, no matter how many times he tried to remember, Siwon still couldn’t find anything. Well, Changmin was a bit clingy after the incident with Junsu. He wanted more hugs now, cuddle with his father more, but Siwon just thought that it was so adorable.

After agonizing minutes and they were done with their meals, finally finally finally Cho-sensei spoke. “Choi-san, I wouldn’t beat around the bush here. I’d like to conduct an IQ test to Changmin.”

Siwon blinked. This was certainly what he had not expected. He assumed that Cho-sensei wanted to speak about Changmin’s misbehavior, or that Changmin was a lonely kid and got bullied in school because he was reading by himself. Especially from the way Cho-sensei spoke earlier, as if there was something urgent.

“Choi-san, did you hear me? I want Changmin to take an IQ test.”

“An IQ test,” Siwon parroted blankly.

He saw Cho-sensei narrowed his eyes and looked at him doubtingly. “….you do know what an IQ test is, don’t you?”

Siwon had the decency to blush. “Yes of course I know what an IQ test is. I just don’t understand why you want Changmin to take it, and so early at that. Isn’t an IQ test usually conducted during six, seven grade students? My son is barely six years old. He just entered school.”

Cho-sensei took a sip from his Earl Grey tea. “I know that Changmin is still young. But I think Changmin is also…unusually smart. No, that wasn’t the right word. Choi-san,” he said as he sat straighter, taking on a more serious stance. “I think your son has an eidetic memory.”

“…..a what?”

The teacher shot him a dirty look. “It’s an ability to recall images, sounds or objects in memory with high precision for a few minutes without using any tool. Basically a person who has it can recall images in great detail. Only a handful of children in the world that have it. Although it has been suggested that it’s unconnected with the person’s intelligence level, but most often than not, a person with eidetic memory also have high IQ.”

Siwon’s mind was still whirling with all this information, but Cho-sensei immediately spoke. “The book he was reading when you came was Le Petit Prince, and I’m sure he will be able to tell you exactly how the story went, word by word. If he’s already reading that book when he’s not yet six, then probably when he’s twelve he’d be reading, what, Chaos Theory?”

This was so much to take. Changmin, his adorable, sweet, cuddly son who put the best pout in the world (well, except for Junsu, Siwon hadn’t forgotten how that boy pout). Changmin, who hated broccoli and loved to eat chocolate and ice cream. Changmin, who glared at Siwon when he called the gundam as robot. His son, the one who cried when Siwon was called to the school the other day. It was hard to believe that such sweet child would be able to read Chaos Theory by the time he was twelve.

Suddenly he remembered Cho-sensei’s attitude towards him that day. The man was horribly rude at first, until he saw how Siwon interacted with Changmin, and how he seemed to be somehow satisfied after that. Was it because he had known that Changmin was a special, really special, kid? He asked this to Cho-sensei and saw the man nodded.

“Yes, I need to know that he has a loving parent. When one discovers that their child is a genius, sometimes there is an urge to…exploit it. After all who wouldn’t be proud having such a smart child as their kid? But it doesn’t mean that it will be good for the child. I need to know that you love Changmin, Choi-san, and really prepared to make the best decision.”

Cho-sensei took one last sip of his tea before standing up. “Think about it, and let me know of your decision soon. It’s good to see you again, Choi-san, I’ll see you back at the school.”


-End of Chapter Five-